Surgical clip appliers are commonly used for ligating a blood vessel, a duct, shunt, or a portion of body tissue during surgery. Most clip appliers typically have a handle with an elongate shaft having a pair of movable opposed jaws formed on an end thereof for holding and forming a ligation clip therebetween. The jaws are positioned around the vessel or duct, and the clip is crushed or formed on the vessel by the closing of the jaws.
One challenge with current clip appliers is retention of a clip within the jaws prior to and during clip formation. Many clip appliers advance a clip into the jaws when the trigger is released and/or during an initial phase of squeezing the trigger, and the jaws are released to return to the open configuration. As a result, the clip is pre-loaded in the jaws. Any movement or manipulation of the jaws could cause the clip to become misaligned, which can lead to clip malformation, or to fall out.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved techniques for retaining surgical clips within the jaws of a surgical clip applier.